Lorac - Unzipped Palette

 I was watching some YouTube makeup videos the other day and in one of them I saw a beautiful palette that included both shimmer and matte shades - all of them gorgeous! So I forayed to my local Sephora and came home with the gorgeous Lorac Unzipped palette.

 

Top L-R: Undercover, Unbelievable, Unattainable, Unconditional, Unbridled

Bottom L-R: Undiscovered, Unreal, Uncensored, Unspoken, Untamed

I first tried Lorac when I caved and bought their Bejewelled Night & Day Jewelry Box. The main selling point for me (not the box itself, which I found a bit kitschy and that showered me with annoying glitter) was the eyeshadow. There were two palettes with absolutely gorgeous shades, and they turned out to be even better on than they looked in the pan. The Unzipped palette lives up to this initial Lorac shadow experience, with equally gorgeous shades that go together wonderfully and look beautiful:

L-R: Undercover, Undiscovered, Unbelievable, Unreal, 

Unattainable, Uncensored, Unconditional, Unspoken, Unbridled, Untamed

The pan size in the palette is pretty decent - a bit larger than in the Urban Decay Book of Shadows collections. It's small enough to pack if you're going away somewhere, and has enough variation that you can create many different looks. I think the shades included would work on most skintones, with some experimentation.

I haven't yet tried the primer that came with the kit (it's a mini), but I'll update this post once I've given it a go! All in all, even without the primer, this palette is definitely worth picking up!

Ratings:
Packaging: 5/5

Product quality: 5/5 for the shadows - will let you know about the primer!

Worth the price? Yes!
Would I purchase again? Yes.

Cruelty-Free? Not sure.

Where to find it: Sephora in store and online.

Shop MAC

I have to admit that when the flyer for this collection arrived in the mail, I didn't really get the concept. And in all honesty, I still don't. That said, however, I did manage to pick up a few items that I absolutely love. It started with Added Goodness, one of the new fluidlines. It's a wonderful shade of muddy grey-taupe that looks excellent as a thick, flicked line with a neutral lid for a daytime look. After seeing some swatches online, I absolutely had to have it. (Confession? I bought a backup, too ;)

Top left - Wholesome Fluidline, bottom right - Added Goodness Fluidline 

Because by the time I got my act together to decide what I wanted my local MAC stores were sold out, I ordered online. So I figured might as well check out what else they've got.... and that's how Wholesome came about. I have Dipdown, which is a deep brown and goes on pretty dark, but definitely still brown. Wholesome is much darker - sort of like the difference between milk and dark chocolate. It looks nearly black, but goes on just a little bit warmer. So if you love winged liner but feel like you can't quite pull of opaque black - give this one a go!

L-R: Added Goodness and Wholesome Fluidlines

Then (because you know how much I looooove a pink lipstick) I stumbled on Dish It Up. It really reminds me of Total Wow, which was a dark berry glaze that was sadly discontinued, but it's lustre so it has more of a sheen to it. It's also a bit more on the pink side than the berry. I really like it for a daytime lip - it's got a pop of colour, but not too intense.

 Lipstick in Dish It Up and Tendertone in Hot 'n' Saucy

The final product I picked up was one of the Tendertone lip glosses - Hot 'n' Saucy. It's a maraschino cherry red sheer lip gloss that goes on with just a hint of colour and isn't at all sticky. Rather than the trademark MAC vanilla scent, this has a fruity scent, which is nice to start with, but it has an after-scent similar to MAC's potted lip conditioners, which is a bit ... something. Chemically? Medicated? I don't know how to describe it, but I find it a little offputting. So if you're sensitive to the lip conditioner scent, you may want to give this one a miss. Because it's sheer and thin, it feels great on the lips, but wears off relatively quickly. So bear that in mind - you'll need to bring it with you to re-apply. The other down side for me is that it's in the same containers as the paint pots - glass. So it's a little heavier and, if you're clumsy like I am, might make you a little nervous if you're touching up on the go.

L-R: Tendertone in Hot 'n' Saucy and lipstick in Dish It Up

So far my favourites, in case you can't tell, are the Added Goodness Fluidline - it's just so different from any other cream liner I have - and Dish It Up lipstick. Tendertone I'm glad I tried, but am still unsure about, and Wholesome I think is a great alternative to black, but definitely not a must-have if you're weighing up which items you'd like to get. This collection is selling out fast - so check out your local MAC (and online) before you miss your chance!

Ratings:
Packaging: 4/5 (I'd prefer that the Tendertone was in a plastic tub - I'm always dropping things!)

Product quality: 5/5
Worth the price? Yes - particularly for the Fluidlines which last forever.
Would I purchase again? Yes for Dish It Up and Added Goodness, maybe for the other two.

Cruelty-Free? Yes - appears on PETA's Cruelty-Free list.

Where to find it: MAC in store and online.